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| - I've been to a lot of zoos, and the Toronto Zoo is by far the best I've ever seen.
Admission is $25 and an extra $10 for parking. Pretty reasonable if you ask me, considering that it's an attraction. Attractions anywhere in the city will cost you more if not double the price. Good news is they have a seniors price and children under 3 are free. Unfortunately there is no student pricing, which I believe they should have, being a student myself.
If you want to go to Stingray Bay, that will cost you and extra $2-3. You get the chance to touch stingrays and stay inside that pavilion for as long as you want. The experience is really cool if you ask me and worth the extra couple of bucks.
There are other little attractions you have to pay for if you want to go see them, but you're not missing out if you don't.
The zoo itself is fantastic. There is an incredible variety of animals, not to mention their new arrivals such as the polar bear cub and the white lion cubs. Can't wait for the pandas in 2013!
When I was there, the cages looked very well maintained. The sizes of the cages seemed fairly generous, especially compared to other zoos. I caught one of the zookeepers feeding the hippos, which turns out to be a great Q&A with visitors. The zookeeper was extremely knowledgable and friendly.
One of my favourite parts about the zoo is the huge property and great paths they have. It gets tiring after hours of walking here and there, but it sure is beautiful.
Some tips:
- if you can, take the TTC. It will save you money and you don't have to pay the parking fee
- bring your own lunch with snacks! Take advantage of the fact that Toronto Zoo lets you bring in your own food unlike other popular Toronto attractions. The zoo has a lot of picnic areas throughout, both in the shade or the sun
- try not to go on extremely hot summer days. You're probably going to do tons of walking and there's not a lot of air conditioned pavilions.
- bring a bathing suit! Just in case you find yourself going on one of those hot days, Toronto Zoo has a pretty descent splash pad. It might be for kids but who says us big kids can't get to use it as well.
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